Building Permits Decline

March 20, 1985|By Aleen Zimberoff, Business Writer

The number of building permits issued in Broward County declined marginally in January, down 1 percent from the same month last year, but plunged significantly from the levels in December, according to information released today by the research department of Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel.

A significant indicator of building activity, the permit figures for January were off 42 percent from the December figures. But in southern and central Palm Beach County, that trend was reversed as building permits posted a jump of 33 percent from December to January.

In Broward County, building permits were issued for 897 units in January as compared with the 1,555 permits issued in December. Housing analysts could not peg the fall-off to any specific occurrences and cautioned that the relationship between the two months does not yet constitute a trend.

``It`s very difficult to explain a single variation in a trend. I`m not aware of an obvious reason why there was a drop in Broward County and an increase in Palm Beach,`` said Ralph Bowden, with Hunter Moss and Company, in Boca Raton. ``Building permits represent an intent, not a reality.``

Bowden said the sharp increase in permits for the month of January was likely the result of a single development coming on line.

The housing market in southern and central Palm Beach County -- an area that stretches roughly from Boca Raton north to Lake Worth -- showed strong gains in January as compared with the same period last year, with a 10 percent increase in the number of permits issued.

In January, there were 953 permits issued as compared with 860 permits issued for the same month last year.